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ESPN Builds Sport Court in São Paulo, in Partnership with Vencer Program

Post date: Jun 26, 2017

Submitted by admin on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 14:04

Community leaders, local residents, and special guests gathered in São Remo, São Paulo, to participate in the opening of a new multifunctional sports court dedicated to the local community and its residents. The global project is led by ESPN and community organizations love.fútbol and Vencer (A Ganar in Portuguese)​ alongside local organizations, EPROCAD and the University of São Paulo (USP).

ESPN’s German Hartenstein is joined by Ana David (ESPN Brasil, Legal Director with responsibility for community engagement) and representatives from project partners love.fútbol, Vencer, and the University of São Paulo, as well as local kids for the offical ribbon cutting at a community sports court in São Remo, São Paulo.

The court and surrounding area, refurbished with the help of community members and ESPN employees, will be the home to ongoing programs for young people in the community where they will learn job skills and be empowered to fulfill their potential, all through the power of sports. The program was developed by award-winning program, Vencer, which uses sports as a vehicle to provide communities across Latin America with training and skills that lead to employment through sports and enables young people to achieve success in life.

Hosted by ESPN Brasil talent, Juliana Veiga and Gustavo Hofman, the event was attended by German Hartenstein, General Manager, ESPN Brasil; community volunteers who helped build the space; local residents and their families; ESPN employees; and community sports and arts organizations. The celebration included cultural performances, special recognition of community leaders who volunteered their time to the project, as well as soccer matches open to the community.

"We are visionaries when we talk about sports. Working together with several partners, we identify, after internal and external research, a space where families, children and teenagers can play together and become active in various activities, being a way to mark values of citizenship and build a better society. This is ESPN's goal to support and invest in many social projects in Brazil and around the world, enhancing the transformative power of the sport”, said Ana David, Legal Director with responsibility for community engagement at ESPN Brasil. ​

ESPN’s Juliana Veiga joins in with cultural performances by the local community.

São Remo is a community in the western part of São Paulo, home to approximately 6,000 people, and has some of Sao Paulo’s lowest rankings in income, education and health. love.fútbol, which builds community sports facilities all over the world, helped to select the location for the new court based on need, population and socio-economic status. The University of São Paulo kindly authorized use of the space. Vencer, in conjunction with Programa Esportivo de Desenvolvimento Humano (Prodhe), will organize sporting activities for the young people to enable them to spend less time on the streets and more time on the court. These collaborations have created a true sense of ownership of the space by the community, enabling ongoing, sustainable and impactful use. ​

Local kids take part in soccer matches on new sports court in São Remo, São Paulo.

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